


Elizabeth Darcy Invents Fanfiction

by Pflichttreue



Category: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Gen, Humor, Nonsense, School Project, invention of fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 08:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6649900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pflichttreue/pseuds/Pflichttreue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elizabeth Darcy read 'Romeo and Juliet' because her new husband recommended it, even though she has purposely avoided the tragic tale; tragedies just aren't her thing. Incensed by the meaningless deaths of the lovers, Elizabeth sets out to write her own ending; and create fanfiction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elizabeth Darcy Invents Fanfiction

**Author's Note:**

> This is for a graduate school assignment, demonstrating the use of how the fanfiction community is using technology to share information. This is basically fun nonsense, so please disregard.

Elizabeth Darcy had avoided Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. Tragedies, were, well, tragic. She'd much rather read about adventures, happy romances, mathematics, sciences, anything else really. Real life was tragic enough, thank you very much. 

 

But Mr. Darcy was so adamant about 'Romeo and Juliet' being a classic, the true romantic story. They argued quite heatedly about it, she rooting for the Arthurian tales, with Arthur and Guinevere and Lancelot, and him for his hopeless, stupid tragedy. He argued how she could ever know, since she had never read it? She threw her arms up in exasperation, stomped to the bookshelf, and took Mr. Darcy's copy of the play to the drawing room, and read the whole thing in one afternoon. 

 

That evening, after reading it, she was even more angry than before. Elizabeth had known the two lovers died, she just hadn't known of the complete buffoonery that had caused it. The whole play was completely ridiculous! She'd expected better of Shakespeare, really.

 

So she wrote down a list of reasons why 'Le Morte d'Arthur' was better than 'Romeo and Juliet'. But as she was writing, she kept getting frustrated by the terrible ending of the play. She thought of at least six common sense ways that could have prevented that ending! 

 

So Mrs. Darcy grabbed a new piece of parchment and scribbled out those six ideas (thinking of another two while she was at it) that could have made a happy ending for the lovers. One idea in particular, where Juliet demonstrated the sense she seemed to possess earlier in the play and decided to simply run away with Romeo in the night with help of the Friar and a variety of slightly convoluted schemes, was her favorite. 

 

Before she knew it, it was nightfall, and Mr. Darcy was tapping her gently on the shoulder. 

 

"My dear, what on earth has kept you from supper? And what are you writing?" her husband asked, bending over to read a few lines. "Dear Lord, are you building on Sir Shakespeare's work? Why?" 

 

"Simply put, darling, that was a most foul play, and I could not bear the terrible ending! I know Romeo was a fool, but Juliet had displayed proper intelligence throughout the play! I just couldn't help but ways it could have gone differently, and now I am ten pages deep in a story of a story! What has befallen me?" Elizabeth bemoaned. 

 

Mr. Darcy chuckled. "It's the magic of Shakespeare's play. It makes people enchanted." 

 

Elizabeth just slumped in her chair. "And what am I to do with this now? What was even the point of this?" Mr. Darcy pondered this for a moment. 

 

"Why don't you send this to your sister, Jane? She was rather a fan of 'Romeo and Juliet' and I imagine she would be most entertained by your story." 

 

"Then I best finish this. Please hold supper for a bit longer. I'm certain the ending is almost near." And at one in the morning, Elizabeth gave up for the night, and decided to start again the morning.

 

After thirty pages, the story finished, and Elizabeth sent it to her sister, Mrs. Bingley, who was indeed most amused by her dear sister's story. In fact, Jane was rather inspired by the idea, and wrote her own ending to the play. And her friend was inspired, and her friend as well. 

 

And thus, Elizabeth Darcy invented fanfiction.


End file.
